moving to darwin

[Linz75]

Hi Guys, im looking for lots of info and help on moving to darwin. Sorry if i go on a bit, but hey feel as tho u guys are the experts so off we go,lol. im hopefully coming over in september with my 3 children. I have managed to save around £20,000 for the move and settling in period. when i get there my job will pay $57304.00 PA. i will be starting work immediatly. Where will i go to rent a house, iv looked on real estates, they seem expensive (is this norm), im going to need a cheap little car, where do i get this???????? im not bringing any furniture with me, where can i get decent 2nd hand till i get on my feet. Has anyone ever calculated how much they spent initially when they first arrived. im not looking for luxury (well not yet lol) just somewhere nice for me and my kids to settle, i really want to come over fully prepared financially. Any help or advice on these issues or anything else would be gratefully appreciated. Hope to hear soon guys, many thanks.xx

[Bobj]

Hi Guys, im looking for lots of info and help on moving to darwin. Sorry if i go on a bit, but hey feel as tho u guys are the experts so off we go,lol. im hopefully coming over in september with my 3 children. I have managed to save around £20,000 for the move and settling in period. when i get there my job will pay $57304.00 PA. i will be starting work immediatly. Where will i go to rent a house, iv looked on real estates, they seem expensive (is this norm), im going to need a cheap little car, where do i get this???????? im not bringing any furniture with me, where can i get decent 2nd hand till i get on my feet. Has anyone ever calculated how much they spent initially when they first arrived. im not looking for luxury (well not yet lol) just somewhere nice for me and my kids to settle, i really want to come over fully prepared financially. Any help or advice on these issues or anything else would be gratefully appreciated. Hope to hear soon guys, many thanks.xx

Not worth moving to the Darwin for that. Just had a quick squiz and the average wage in 2010 was

Just had a quick squiz and the average wage in 2010 was

$67,262

39.3

All occupations

Cheers, Bobj.

[4lan]

Hi Linz,

I'm not sure as to the exact figures but my wife and I moved here last year and spent roughly what you have saved. Our expenses went on temporary accommodation while we found a rental, a small car (second hand cars are expensive but we decided given the total cost of ownership a new small car was the best choice) several pieces of furniture, living costs for a three or four weeks until I was paid, connections charges/utilities/bills and the tenancy bond to name but a few. Incidentally you should perhaps contact some rental agencies and confirm what you'll need to provide to ensure you'll pass muster when applying to rent a property, which even then doesn't mean you will be accepted (see below comment about scarcity).

There are a few used car dealers, independent and those associated with dealerships, I've heard various stories but in the main my advice would be 'buyer beware'. I'm not sure if there are any second hand furniture places to be honest, the information online about local businesses can be 'hit and miss' to say the least so of limited help I'm afraid. That said furniture here new is VERY expensive so I expect used items to reflect this as well, so if you can to ship as much as you can in a container .

Even with a wage over 70k (basic house, car, social, entertainment etc.) then you'll be struggling; the cost of living here is VERY high (avg rent 400-700 (dependent on suburb) per week for a 3/4 bed house) and will make a serious dent in your pay every two weeks (rent is particularly high and properties rare, which is only inflating the cost). You'll likely find the cheaper rents will be in suburbs with older housing and possibly less desirable to raise children in. Even if you qualified for family credits which isn't certain (given that there are perquisites such as residency time and visa type not to mention means testing) you could still be pushing it. You've said you're coming over with 3 children but do not mention a partner at all, is it just the 4 of you? If so I would strongly suggest you assess your financials and put serious thought into ensuring you have planned for even the worst contingency, bear in mind that if you have difficulties you are a LONG way from your support network! You may wish to speak to CentreLink as soon as you arrive if not before to see if you qualify for any assistance or find out whether your employer will subsidise your rent (many families can only afford to live here because there rent is paid e.g. Defense Force and Police). It would also mean having to sort everything yourself including bank accounts, renting, car, shopping, schools and buy the furniture/equipment needed for your home. When my wife and I planned our visa application part of the requirements was ensuring we could support ourselves for two years without income after we arrived; the NT government advised that we should have 35k to fund our initial settling and relocation (not including the two years worth of income)..

Apologies if I appear to be bombarding you with negatives that is not my intention. I am merely attempting to provide a small example of the reality you will face once you arrive. Darwin and the area is fantastic and we believe it is great for raising kids (although schools have had mixed reviews). Of course everything should work out alright with the right planning, attitude and savings so no dramas ;¬D

I hope that helps.

4lan

[starlight7]

Can't add anything except good wishes and go for it- life is short and if you want to do something, you do it! will be a big adventure up there, very exotic.

[janine the party queen]

Darwin is VERY expensive.TBH there is no way I would move with 3 children on the money you are quoting.You have not said where you will be working as this will give us an idea on a suburb that might suit you.
Furniture is expensive we do not have any of the cheap furniture stores that other people mention on here ie; ikea,fantastic furniture etc.You are pretty much stuck with Harvey Normans,Le Corneu,Freedom and Jape Homemaker Village.
We only have the choice of Coles and Woolworths for shopping.Fruit and veg at the markets is very seasonal.
Its OK other people saying " you only live once go for it " this might work in other areas of Oz but will not work up here.Rental and house prices are going through the roof because of the new gas mining project.
You also have no choice of power suppliers there is only one ,Power and Water.
Now we love living up here but we are both on a good income and our grown up children left home a number of years ago.

[Linz75]

Thank you so much for your honest opinion, im so worried about making my children live on the bread line and them becoming unhappy. Unfortunatley this is my only opportunity of getting out of the uk and into oz. Lots to think about hey.thanks guys.x

[Julz]

We moved to Darwin in 2009 with 3 young kids......personally I wouldn't do it again, Darwin isn't like the rest of Australia.....and that was one of the first things an Australian said to me when we arrived there. What visa are you coming across on, if you are not entitled to state schooling fees wil be high and you would not be able to afford it on that salary. Australia on a whole is very expensive, rents in Darwin can be around $1500+ a month, you will spend approx. $300 on food a week and like Janine says new furniture is VERY expensive in Darwin. Good luck in whatever you do but please take on board the advise people give me.

[j9blossom]

To give another perspective - we have been here nearly 6 weeks now. We brought nothing over with us except a suitcase each of clothes and a few toys for the kids. At this stage I'm not working (but do intend to be soon, for now I'm doing some volunteer work). My husband is on a wage not far different from what yours will be and we are managing. We will get assistance from Centrelink but nothing happens quickly around here and we're still waiting for it all to be processed (I'm told we should get it back-paid anyway). We don't have thousands of dollars still sitting in the bank to keep us going, but we're also not struggling yet either. (and certainly hope not to!)
We live in a suburb of Palmerston called Gunn, we pay $470 per week rent (which is pretty good! We're in a nice basic 3 bedroom house, not flash but certainly not at all grotty). We have two school age children and they both go to the nearby primary school. They are happy there and enjoy it and I've had no problems. I've met very friendly locals and have already been invited to things and included in outings.
We bought furniture 2nd hand from a website called Gumtree. (www.gumtree.com.au - search for Darwin items). The only thing we did buy brand new for ourselves was a mattress! (on sale too which was good) My husband did also find a brand new dining table from Harvey Norman which was significantly marked down due to a few minor scratches as it was a floor model.
My hubby also found us a 2nd hand car for a few thousand dollars. It's definitely nothing flash but for now it gets us around. We plan to upgrade it once I'm working and we have more spare $$.
Good luck with your move plans! It's lovely up here! A bit muggy at the moment (not entirely 'normal' for this time of the year) but it's so nice to not be have a freezing cold winter!

[janine the party queen]

J9Blossom,the OP has 3 children and does not mention a partner.I was basing my comment on the facts given and taking into account childcare cost on the wages mentioned.With that in mind factor in utilities and day to day living expenses and I really do not see how on earth she will manage.

[j9blossom]

oh sorry Janine , I wasn't trying to argue with you or anyone else who had commented - just giving info on our situation so far. I agree, with 3 children (depending on ages) childcare cost (or after school/school holiday costs) won't be cheap. Plus I'm not sure what the deal might be with school fees? I wasn't saying that she 'would' be able to afford it, I was trying to point out that we are 'managing' on a 'not huge' single income at this stage

But yes, it is a huge move to make and if you don't do all of your research and ask plenty of questions first then you may end up making the wrong decision in moving here. You can always go back again but that is more $$ too....